The LIMO!!!

Here are the top pledge earners for this year's race (and our 2 fearless chaperones)!!!

Can you tell they are excited to go?!?

Into the limo...Ava's first time!!

Let the fun begin!

This is Dave - the race director I have worked with for the past 4 years - and his son, Jack.

Off they go to Subway, Enger Tower and Playfront Park!  Well done Ava, well done!!!

Treasures From Mrs. Harala

Mrs. Harala (Mary Ann) has become a good family friend of ours over the past 4 years.  She had both Andrew and Zach for 2nd grade and has watched the kids, come to baptisms, come over for lunch...the list goes on and on.  I have helped her with packing her classroom and her house and have helped her with parties!  We love Mrs. Harala!

She decided to move out of her house and into a condo and our family was helping her.  During the process she asked us if we would like to have her aunt's antique furniture that was passed down to her.  After some discussion and after she had double checked that neither of her children wanted it, we were thrilled to accept!  This is the 1st piece of the set...isn't it beautiful??  It has a bunch of my pewter pieces in it now!

Here is a small piece for my tablecloths, napkins, etc.

And here is the large buffet with all of my china, candles, napkin rings and other treasures!  We couldn't be more pleased with how it looks!  It is such a generous gift and we were thrilled to receive it!!!

Ava's Fieldtrip

Ava's class had a bunch of field trips during the last 2 weeks of school and I was able to go on the "biggest"one!  Here she is with one of her best friends, Nina, riding to our starting point!

I thought they were so cute!  All cuddled up on the bus!  We got to the Rose Garden and started our journey along the lake walk...

Sharon and I grouped together and had our 5 kids become 1 big group!  Here they are along the path...

Stopping at the outdoor stage to sing a little song...

Finding names on the war memorial...

Throwing rocks and having fun with our goal of the lift bridge in the background.

Getting closer...

These cute kids on the bench...enjoying the lake!

Group hug time!!

After about 1 1/2 hours we made it to our 1st destination...the lift bridge!!!

Then we made the relatively short walk over the small lift bridge to Play Front Park!!  We had lunch and played until it was time to go back to school.  It was a great field trip and I was so happy to have been there with Ava!!!

The Brewer Family

We were lucky enough to have some friends that we knew in Detroit visit us.  They live in Rochester, Minnesota now and decided to come up to Duluth for a weekend away!  They did quite a bit of site seeing on Saturday and then met up with us at church on Sunday morning. 

After church they came to our house for a meal and we had a blast!  The kids played and played and the adults talked and talked!  Once we were full to the brim and caught back up on our lives over the past 7 years, we went to Enger Tower and then over to Exodus.  We had a great time spending the day with their family and hope it won't be anywhere near 7 years until the next time we get to visit with them! 

Cougar Chase Medals

This year we asked the art teacher at the school if she would be willing to have students help make the awards for the race.  We have asked a different art teacher in the past, but didn't get a very excited response!  This art teacher took on the challenge and came through with the most wonderful medals!  We couldn't have been happier with how they turned out.  Each one was different and beautiful in its own way.  It took us a few years to have this dream realized, but we finally got it!  I think that is worth a gold medal all of it's own! 

The 5th Annual Congdon Cougar Chase

Every year there is a t-shirt contest at the school for the Cougar Chase.  Both of the boys have been in the top 10 before, but this year Andrew won!!  Here is his design!!!  He worked really hard on it and I was so, so proud of him.  It was too much fun to see everyone at the race with his t-shirt design on! 

We had had some very rainy weather and were feeling pretty concerned about race conditions.  We lucked out in a big way and this was the view as I was headed to the race site at about 6 a.m.

We had just enough sunshine to get us through our 5 ours that we needed!  I thought it was a beautiful morning.

All my boys ran the 5K this year and did great!  They came in right after each other...Andrew, Zach and Greg!  They didn't run together during the race, so it was really amazing how they finished.  Greg said he was trying really hard to catch Zach right at the end (he couldn't see Andrew because of a turn), but couldn't!  It was the first time that he couldn't catch one of the boys...somehow it seems like it could be the beginning of a new trend!

Zach ended up getting 2nd place in his age division.  He really did run a great race...all those running club practices really paid off!

Here is a shot of the cougar running...easier said than done in that outfit!  I love that the cougar really runs...it is so fun!

Ava ran the 1K and did great as well!  Look at those cute little runners!

Both of the boys have raised enough money in the past to make it on the limo ride for the top pledge earners.  Andrew decided not to do the pledges this year, and even though Zach did raise quite a bit of money, he decided he was done long before Ava did.  He knew it meant that he wouldn't be on the limo, but he was okay with that.  Ava, on the other hand, was determined to do what she had watched her brothers do for the past 2 years...and she DID!!  That's her certificate for the limo ride!  She was thrilled (and I was thrilled for her)!!

Working on the race for the past 4 years has been a wonderful experience.  So many hours have gone into the events and we have come a long, long way.  This year we had our highest number of runners...390 and we raised our most money...$17,200.  I couldn't be more proud of the group of people I have worked with and the event that we have been able to put together.  It was the last year for about 5 of us and it was an emotional good-bye at our wrap up meeting.  We are leaving the race in very capable hands, but it is hard to walk away from something that has been so much fun throughout all of the work. 

Ava's 6th Birthday Party

Ava has wanted to have a tea party for her birthday for 2 years now.  We didn't end up doing it last year (because a friend had a tea party just a few weeks before her), so we did it this year!

She picked the table cloth and helped set the table with the china!  We matched the real flowers on the table to the napkin rings she wanted...and we were off to tea party land!

We made little wraps, had fruit, cakes, cookies and fresh strawberry lemonade!
 

Here are some of the girls after they picked their flowers for their hats...

It wouldn't be a party without a few silly faces too!

Here is most of the group after we made our party hats!  The girls picked their ribbons and flowers and I handled the hot glue!

 Ready to eat...

Who wants seconds??

A closer look at the food...

And 2 little cakes instead of 1 big one...seemed appropriate for a tea party!

Just after making her wish!

In the fun of opening presents...

And with special friends!  It was a really fun afternoon with Ava's friends and I was happy to have finally made her little dream of a tea party come true!  Happy Birthday Ava...I can't believe you are 6!!  We love you!!!

An American Girl Treasure!

I was helping my neighbor move and she was just finishing up with the last of the decision boxes...what do I do with this??  She had a few big containers of American Girl Doll items and doll house items that she wanted me to take and divide up between Ava and 2 other neighborhood girls.  I really didn't feel good about it because I knew there was a significant value to the items and felt like it was only something she was doing because she was at the end of her moving rope and just needed the things to be taken care of. 

After MUCH convincing, she allowed me to take the things to try to sell them for her instead.  I was a woman on a mission!  Look at all that stuff!!!  I got busy cleaning, sorting, looking online and then listing.  After a crazy 5 days, the last items had been shipped all over the country and delivered locally!  I was so excited - you would have thought I was making money for myself.  I actually think it was more fun to make it for someone else!!  I called my friend and she came over and I was able to give her $1950!!!  She was speechless!!!  It was well worth the time to be able to give her that moving gift.  She will be a missed neighbor after 5 great years! 

The last family night for the year!

 

I have been doing all of the family nights and parent education nights at the school this past year.  My last event was the Family Game Night.  We brought in and served dinner from an Italian restaurant in town and had BINGO and a game called GaGa Ball in the gym during the same time.  With over 350 people, you can't serve dinner to everyone at once, so having 3 things to choose from - all at the same time - means that you can be doing something fun while the dinner line is long and then come and eat when you don't have to wait.  

After everyone had eaten, played GaGa and BINGO, those stations all closed down and everyone went to the auditorium for Minute 2 Win It.  I had the game set up so that you could enter your name into a drawing if you wanted to play.  64 people played (I was happy I could find a way to involve so many people) and then we had our grand finale with the top 4!  

It was a big hit...the food was delicious, there were fun games and great prizes.  Doing these events during the past year has been a major undertaking and I'm excited to have them complete.  I'm also proud of how they all turned out and am looking forward to the different challenges I will have as PTA co-president next year.  I have feelings of "whew" and happiness all at the same time!

The Cougar Chase Assembly...Can Anyone Say, "LOUD"??

The 5th Annual Congdon Cougar Chase was underway and it was time for the assembly at school.  This is my 4th year doing the fundraising for the event and this is truly a pep-rally to get the kids excited to raise money.  The event wouldn't be complete without the cougar, but the cougar was smart enough to know that chaos was about to begin!!

The kids started to come into the gym and get settled (as much as the cougar would let them) and them the running club came in and ran laps around the kids.  It is a really fun moment for the running club!  During the assembly we are talking about the prizes that can be won in the drawing and the prizes...it is a big, crazy, yelling fest!  It isn't the teacher's favorite assembly, but the money we earn is worth the 1/2 hour of ear damage!!

After it is all over and we have thoroughly riled up the kids, they all want to give the cougar a high 5 on the way out!
 

Poor little cougar...in the fetal cougar position once it is over!!

Here is the running club with the cougar...Zach is on the bottom row - all the way to the left.  It was a great assembly and another thing I could mark off of my list of items "to do" when it came to the race!  It is my last year helping with the race in this capacity, so everything is a bit nostalgic...maybe I'll come and watch from the side lines next year!!!